Former multiple-time UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen has been served with five battery citations stemming from a recent incident in which he allegedly beat up five separate people during a furious row in a Las Vegas hotel.
Retired fighter Sonnen, 44, who has become one of mixed martial arts’ more prominent analysts in his post-fight career, was detained by local police following the incident which is said to have occurred at around 7.30pm local time last Saturday at the Luxor Hotel and Casino.
According to a report by TMZ, Sonnen was seen by a witness banging on a hotel room door when a couple walked past him. A physical altercation quickly broke out between Sonnen and the man, which prompted his female partner to scream. Police arrived on the scene and detained Sonnen, leading him away in handcuffs. He was not arrested as police didn’t witness the alleged incident.
Chael Sonnen arrested in Vegas last night pic.twitter.com/9cAPZ2C6wr
— Jim (@FukingCasuals) December 19, 2021
Paramedics were called to the scene but, per reports, weren’t required to administer first aid to any of the alleged victims. Police later determined that Sonnen had committed misdemeanor battery against five people.
“Sonnen was issued a battery citation for each individual victim, then escorted off property,” Las Vegas Police told MMA Fighting. “Due to the fact the misdemeanors were committed outside of a police officer’s presence, an arrest was not conducted.”
Footage published by TMZ showed a man who appears to be Sonnen being escorted through the hotel in handcuffs.
Throughout his active career, Sonnen scored wins against the likes of Michael Bisping, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Wanderlei Silva and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. He retired in 2019 following successive losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Lyoto Machida.
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The ex-fighter has so far failed to respond to media inquiries into the situation but a public records request into the situation is pending, with further light expected to be shed on the alleged incident in the coming days.
Sonnen is best known throughout his 49 -ight professional career for his feud with former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and has been credited with introducing the type of promotional ‘trash talk’ into the sport which fighters like Conor McGregor and Colby Covington would later capitalize on.
Nowadays, he is a regular fixture on ESPN programming, hosting ‘The Chael Sonnen Show’ on the popular sports network as well as maintaining his own YouTube channel.
He is also known for a brawl with fellow retired fighter Wanderlei Silva which took place during the filming of the UFC’s ‘Ultimate Fighter’ reality TV series in Brazil.
Sonnen briefly embarked on a political career as a Republican in 2010 and campaigned for a seat at the Oregon House of Representatives, before dropping out of the race reportedly due to a 2006 legal issue involving real estate.
He elaborated on the situation in a 2011 interview: “I love public office, and I left the only way a politician should, in handcuffs.”
